Past grant misuse costs Camden police aid

The Camden Police Department won't receive any federal money to hire officers this year because it owes money to the government, according to the Justice Department.

Though the Obama administration has allocated $1 billion for agencies nationwide to hire police, Camden has agreed not to seek funding until 2010 because the department owes $565,000 for misuse of a past grant.

The violations occurred in 1999 under different leadership, Police Chief Scott Thomson said. The department failed to meet the grant's requirements, including a stipulation that the force maintain a certain number of officers, he said.

That federal money was available through Community Oriented Policing Services, which was created during the Clinton administration for hiring officers nationwide. The COPS program was renewed this year as part of President Obama's stimulus package.

As reported yesterday by USA Today, Camden's law enforcement agency is one of 26 that agreed to forgo new federal money for hires. In return, the government will forgive their debts.

The money is sorely needed in Camden's 380-member department, where the ranks have been stretched thin because of the city's budget problems. Since 2006, when a hiring freeze was imposed, the force has shrunk 10 percent as officers have left.

Thomson had said he hoped to hire at least 35 officers this year. Theodore Z. Davis, Camden's state-appointed chief operating officer, turned down the department's request to hire 26 in 2008, saying the money wasn't there.

Last year was one of Camden's deadliest on record, with 53 homicides. A rising wave of gang violence led the department to reorganize and deploy more officers on the street. The homicide rate has dropped since then.